A two-member Bharatiya Janata Party delegation met the Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the state and later said it would submit a formal proposal to him on January 1.
A day after the Peoples Democratic Party came out with the idea of a "grand alliance" with its arch-rival National Conference and the Congress party to form the government, BJP slammed the plan as a "betrayal" with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters, the BJP state unit chief Jugal Kishore Sharma, who met the Governor along with General Secretary Ram Madhav, said "Party leaders will meet the governor on January 1 to hand him our proposal. Today's meeting with the governor can be seen a part of the ongoing process of government formation in the state."
"The process of government formation is on and during this process people keep on meeting but our formal meeting with the Governor is scheduled for January 1 when the BJP will be submitting its proposal to the Governor," he said.
Asked about the PDP's grand alliance plan, Sharma said, "Though I am not aware about the formation of any such alliance, but if any such alliance is formed, it would be a betrayal with the people of state as BJP got the maximum share of votes in the elections.”
The assembly elections threw up a fractured verdict with the PDP emerging as the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member assembly and the BJP the second largest party with 25 seats.
The NC won 15 seats and Congress 12. Smaller parties and independents together won seven seats.
On talks between PDP and BJP for government formation, Sharma said, "We cannot rule out that talks are going on. This is part of the process and we are exploring options on who will support the BJP, but only we can provide a stable government to the people of Jammu and Kashmir."
Demanding that the next chief minister should be from BJP, he said, "We have authorised party president Amit Shah to take a decision. The decision will be taken after consultation with the state unit of the party and we maintain that the chief minister should be from BJP."
During the 30-minute meeting with the governor, the BJP leaders deliberated on efforts for formation of a stable government in the state, he said.
Sharma said the BJP was holding discussion with all the stakeholders and has kept all the options open for formation of the next government.
"We are not denying that we are holding discussion with other parties. We are in touch with all the stakeholders in the state. Only an alliance with BJP can provide a stable government to the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Sharma said that discussions within the party on government formation were on and the party did not want to take a decision in hurry.
"We have to provide a stable government to the people, which gives good governance, so we cannot rush into things, hence the government formation, is taking time," he said.
He said no alliance in the state could be successful without the participation of the BJP.
"No alliance is possible without BJP as the people have given mandate to the party," he said.
"We are not in a hurry. So we are taking time for the formation of the government in the state," Sharma said adding that the party has kept all the options open for the formation of the next government.
